Dec. 31, 1999 4:31 AM Reuters

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (Reuters) - World silver medallist Yevgeny Plyushchenko landed a clean quad in a near-perfect short programme to lead the men's event after the opening day of the Russian national figure skating championships on Thursday.

Plyushchenko, 17, received three perfect 6.0 marks and the rest 5.9s for his inspired performance.

Double world champion Alexei Yagudin was a distant second with scores as low as 5.3 after falling on a triple lutz and missing two others.

World pairs champions Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze also skated poorly in their short programme to finish a disappointing third.

Berezhnaya hit the ice after a triple lutz and fluffed two other required elements.

Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin moved into first place with an error-free routine ahead of European champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov.